


Flowers

by theoofoof



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoofoof/pseuds/theoofoof
Summary: The newly appointed White House Chief of Staff arrives at work to find a surprise on her desk. CJ/Danny
Relationships: Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg
Comments: 18
Kudos: 40





	Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if there's still anyone out there reading West Wing fanfiction, but this little ficlet sprang into my head after watching 6x04: Liftoff the other day and I just couldn't shake it. 
> 
> Also, this is my first West Wing fanfiction and I'm a little nervous, so please be kind.

The newly appointed White House Chief of Staff rushed into her office, a coffee in one hand, her purse in the other, and her cell phone wedged between her shoulder and her ear. Thanks to traffic, she was late, which was not the kind of impression she wanted to make on her third day in the job. On the phone, Toby was rambling on about his latest policy initiative - and had been since she'd answered his call as she was pulling into the carpark but she'd zoned out about five minutes ago, her early morning caffeine boost having not yet worked its way into her system.

She stopped in her tracks as she neared her desk. There, sat in the middle, was the largest bouquet of flowers she had ever seen.

“Oh good Lord,” she muttered. “I thought I’d put an end to this.”

“CJ? You okay?”

She set her purse down on her desk. “What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine… Listen, can we talk about this at Senior Staff?” she asked, before snapping the handset closed without waiting for a response.

“Margaret!”

They’d talked about this. After embarrassing herself on her first day by assuming all the flowers people had sent for Leo were for her, CJ had kindly asked her assistant to get them to their rightful owner and to redirect any further deliveries to his hospital room. When they were still arriving and cluttering up her office on her second afternoon, she’d had to firmly insist. An insistence that had apparently being ignored by her new assistant.

The woman in question popped her head around the door. “Yes?”

CJ gestured to the bouquet. “There’s more flowers for Leo.”

“No, those are for you,” she informed her, approaching her desk and handing her some files.

CJ raised her eyebrows. “They are?”

Margaret nodded. “The delivery boy was very clear. Plus, your name is on the card.” She tapped the white envelope that was tucked in between the petals before disappearing back to her desk.

CJ stared at the flowers. Now that she had got a good look at them, she could see their beauty. A bouquet of orange germini, cerise roses and carnations set off with green santini and Cobra lilies. She bent to smell them, inhaling the delightful fragrance for a few moments, before reaching for the card.

She couldn’t imagine who they were from. Her brothers had sent flowers, champagne & messages of good luck to her home (on behalf of their respective families and her ailing father) when the news had broken and her colleagues had marked her promotion in their own unique way - by threatening to resign. Two vastly different approaches but each one held the same deep meaning. The people behind them loved her and were proud of her. They just showed it in different ways. While she was sure there were messages of congratulation still to be received from the political big wigs both on and off the Hill, there was no one else she was expecting to gifts from. She smiled as she pulled it from its envelope revealing a picture of a goldfish on the front. She turned it over to find a short message in a familiar scrawl.

 _Congratulations!  
_ _You’ll be great._  
_D x_

_P.S. Don’t forget to  
feed Gail!_

She smiled as she tucked the card back into its envelope and dropped it into the front pocket of her bag. She would take it home and add it to the little box that contained numerous clippings of Danny Concanon’s articles, print outs of emails they’d exchanged, the receipt from the first time they’d shared Chinese in her office and of course, the goldfish pin. 

He was still a reporter – a damn good one - and even though he was no longer assigned to the White House, it was still inappropriate for them to be anything more than friends – perhaps even more so now, given her new position – but the Bartlet administration had less than two years left to govern and then, she would be free to give in to the feelings for Danny she’d harboured for years. She just hoped that, when the time came, he’d still feel the same.


End file.
